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[LEGEND] Casual Rank 23 to Legend 70% WR Big Pr...

  • Last updated Nov 8, 2017 (Marin's Treasure)
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Wild

  • 6 Minions
  • 23 Spells
  • Deck Type: Ranked Deck
  • Deck Archetype: Big Priest
  • Crafting Cost: 11660
  • Dust Needed: Loading Collection
  • Created: 10/27/2017 (Triggered)
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  • Total Deck Rating

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Update Log

  • Tuesday Oct 31, 2017 - Added vs. Druid Rank 2 Replays, vs. Priest Mulligan and Strategy Guide
  • Sunday Oct 29, 2017 - Added vs. Rogue and Warlock Rank 1/2/3 Replays, vs Druid Mulligan and Strategy Guide
  • Saturday Oct 28, 2017 - Added vs. Warlock Mulligan and Strategy Guide
  • Friday Oct 27, 2017 - Added vs. Rogue Mulligan and Strategy Guide
  • Thursday Oct 26, 2017 - Deck listed with Overview

Before you start crafting this deck, please read:  I'm a casual Hearthstone player. Not a pro, not a twitch streamer, not a multi-season legend player, not a poker player, not a chess player, and am terrible at math. I play for lootbox, for making golden cards, the shinies etc. This season (Oct 2017, aka. Season 43) is the first time I decided to sit down and try for Legend. I did it with this deck, from Rank 23 Argent Squire to Legend Rank 2028, using ONLY this deck.  No cheating easy meta here with meta counters, no deck switching, only this one and only deck. 

I say this because a lot of decks on Hearthpwn has bogus stats. A pool of 20 games at Legend rank where people try weird things and don't care about stars doesn't mean the deck is ladder climbing friendly. By showing you how to deal with the meta from casual rank all the way to the top, I will hopefully prove that this is viable at all stages of the grind and that if I can get to Legend with it, anyone can. You don't need to have high IQ. You just need to be patient and have a mindset on improving rather than winning. Positive attitude is a plus and a little bit of salt on the side doesn't hurt easier.

I started recording stats at last star of Rank 4. From there to Legend took me a total of 47 matches (6 hrs total). Rank 23 to Rank 5 took about a week, playing casually after dinner on and off. Win rate between Rank 4 and Legend is 68%. Win rate before Rank 5 is 75%+ with chain win star bonus. 


Rank 23 to Rank 5 Tech Choice:

There are THREE (3) flexible slots in this deck for climbing through Rank 23 to Rank 5:

You can do Holy Smite x 2 in place of Lash/Amber, and Mind Vision in place of Silence. Lower rank ladder has more deck variation and more aggro. Smite comes in handy as an extra removal or trigger Dark Auduin's hero power for racing lethal. Mind vision gives more extra options in early turns, spy on enemy hands, an edge in mirror match up etc. The heterogeneous nature of lower rank means you won't always have the best thing to silence. Mind vision's randomness also provide more fun. 

Rank 5 to Rank 1/Legend Tech Choice: 

 There is One (1) flexible slot in this deck for climbing through Rank 5 to 1/Legend. 

You can swap out a Free From Amber for Skulking Geist if you are facing 5+ back to back Jade Druid. But Skulking's pretty crappy against all the other match ups. It's not that great against Zoolocks because at a wee chance of removing a Soulfire you might be dead to a bad Barnes by turn 4. It's not good against Raza priest either because thinning their deck so they can find Raza and Velen is bad. Against Druid, mulligan for it in your opening hand. Druid do not have much early threat so you can afford to fish for it. 

Deck variety tend to shrink as you climb out of the star bonus ranks. People will use more refined list to up their win rate but at the same time they also become far more predictable because of this. Hunters are rare. Shamans not so much either. Silence is a must vs. many classes at this point as an extra out against Vicious Fledgling, mirror match up, and bad match up. Remember you can silence your own 1/1 from Barnes for contesting the board. Spirit Lash is a great value card to get extra health/board clear in early turns or chip away fat minions to make way for Dragonfire Potion in the later turns. 

Ladder Mulligans and Playstyle

Mulligan is very important. There is a misconception that Big Priest is inconsistent and luck based. Knowing how to deal with different meta decks and how fast or slow you want to play out your deck based on your mulligan is half of your game. Keep a mental tab on how you mulligan vs. each opponent and learn from your mistakes if you lose a match. 

Before anything else: Barnes, if in opening hand, you always keep regardless of whether you have coins or not, no exceptions. Removing the possibility of bad Shadow Essence is very important. Barnes is also the most value card you can play on turn 4 (turn 3 with coin). Do not stall on using Barnes. Waiting one more turn will mean the difference between accidentally drawing Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound or free summon via Barnes and instantly concede by opponent.

Rogue - Good match-up, easy win

vs. Rogue Replays

Warlock - Good match-up, easy win

  • Mulligan for: Barnes (duh), Shadow Word: Pain (Against Vicious Fledgling, Southsea Captain. Don't waste on a Flame Imp.)
  • Secondary Mulligan: Potion of Madness, Shadow Visions, Pint-Size Potion and Shadow Word: Horror combo.
  • General tips: Similar to Rogues, use Potion of Madness generously, ran their Malchezaar's Imp into their own minions.
  • Use Shadow Visions to fish for Pint+Horror combo asap, as this kills Doomguard, Despicable Dreadlord, Dragonfire Potion is a good alternative if you have coin. Only use when there are multiple minions on the board.
  • Pay attention to Darkshire Councilman baiting removal. If they have not played Vicious Fledgling and you have Pint/Horror or Dragonfire Potion you can wait for mass removal. Councilman can wait one turn, Fledgling cannot.
  • Shadow Word: Death is not a bad visions choice if there are no other options but do not mulligan in opening hand.
  • Keep their side of the board clean by turn 7 (turn 6 with coin), to avoid Bonemare. Removal early turns then curve into your own minions. Shadow Essence turn 6 if you have no options, but prioritize removal before this as it is risky if you haven't drawn Barnes.
  • Removal vs. Barnes turn 4? This depends on what they got on the board. Voidwalker/Imps? Do Barnes. Fledgling/Captain + 1/3s? Removal first.
  • Don't worry about Dark Guldan, by then you should have enough board presence to contest the revived demons.
  • Pay attention to Soulfire lethal and 6/8 Doomguard from Prince. Other than that you should have enough taunt to survive and heal up later, so prioritize contesting the board.
  • If the warlock haven't played anything by turn 2, he's a control warlock, fish for Shadow Essence through visions. You can leave drakes up for pint/horror clear. This match is even easier than Zoo, as you will win through fatigue by default, so you can play it slow. We got Anduin so no worries about late game. No need to pile on the board, two is a good number so you don't lose out on removal. Watch for Mind Control Tech. 

vs. Warlock Replays

Druid - Jade Variant, Tough match-up, 50:50 to Win.

  • Mulligan for: Barnes, Shadow Visions
  • Secondary Mulligan: Shadow Essence if you have coin, otherwise toss for another chance at Barnes. If you got Barnes, toss the other cards except Shadow Essence and Shadow Visions to find Eternal Servitude. If you don't have Barnes and Shadow Essence and Eternal Servitude come in a paired combo, keep both if you have coin. Keep Pint/Horror if they come in a paired combo. If you have none of the cards mentioned above, toss everything for a chance at Barnes.
  • Tertiary Mulligan: If you got Barnes, keeping Silence or get one from Shadow Visions is okay if Eternal Servitude is not available. More on this later.
  • General tips: Jade druid is a tough match-up. The main thing to note here is that you will lose if you play the removal game. Jade have unlimited arsenal, no amount of removal will be enough and the Jades just get bigger and stickier.  If it's between cleaning their board or putting your own minions, always put your own minions. Use removal to protect your own minions but do not go a turn leaving your side of the board empty in late game.
  • Fortunately, they typically start a bit slow in the early turns and their minions at the start are non-threatening. So you can take time to heal and fish with Shadow Vision
  • Use Dragonfire Potion generously over Pint/Horror combo early game. Don't save these. You won't have the luxury to use a 6 mana removal in late game that also does 5 damage to your own minions, and the Jades will get too big to full clear. Your late game board clear options are the cheap Shadow Words, Lich King cards, Ysera Cards, and Pint + minions. 
  • Taking Dragonfire Potion through Shadow Visions is not recommended. You don't want anything that can harm your own minions because you have far fewer bodies available. And like I said above, you can't out remove Jades since they cost 1 mana. Instead, Eternal Servitude is great, followed by Shadow Essence if you still have minions in your deck, then Pint or Horror if you have the other piece of the Pint combo, or Free From Amber.  
  • Play Shadow Essence asap so you can start resurrecting. If you get a 5/5 Barnes, it's unfortunate but at least you have a 5/5 body you can use and heal up.
  • Use Greater Healing Potion on your own minions. Respect your minions, heal them, keep them healthy as it's the only way to win.
  • When you play Barnes early game (turn 4), use Silence on the summoned minion if it's a Ysera or Obsidian Statue. This way you can use the 4/12 or 4/8 to swing board tempo while you catch up in mana.
  • Use the Lich King 6 mana Army card to catch up on the board is a perfectly viable option.
  • The turn when the Druid uses Ultimate Infestation is a good time for you to catch up in tempo and pile minions on the board.
  • Q: Resurrect Obsidian Statue or The Lich King? A: The Lich King. 4/8 is weak late game, you want max attack minions. You can lose if they silence it to remove the deathrattle so be careful.
  • Watch for Mind Control Tech...
  • The Aggro Variant of Druid is an easy match-up so I won't go into details here. Play it like Warlock/Rogue but be more aggressive with removal, since they have more/cheaper cards to buff their minions if you leave them on the board. Keep the board clean and curve into your big minions late game and you will outlast them.

vs. Druid Replays

Priest - Highlander Variant, Good match-up, semi-easy win

  • Mulligan for: Barnes, Shadow Visions, Shadow Essence
  • Secondary Mulligan: Eternal Servitude if you have one of the above primary mulligan cards. If you have none, toss everything else to fish for more of the above cards. 
  • General tips: There are two things to keep in mind about Highlander priests. 1) They only have one copy of everything. 2) The longer the match goes on, the more likely they will find their OTK and win. To counter this, we need to aggressively pile minions on the board and hit their face as much as possible.
  • The only minions you should kill asap is Priest of the Feast and Lyra. Other than that, do smart trades to avoid full board clears and push for face damage.
  • Highlanders are very passive at the start of the match, use the early turns to fish for Shadow Essence. You need to put minions on the board by turn 6 (5 if you have coin), and continue to do so from there.
  • Prioritize resurrecting The Lich King, Ysera, and Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound over Obsidian Statue. You want maximum attack minions and end turn effect cards to push for lethal. They only have one Death and a Kaz potion before turn 8.
  • As noted above, this also means, you should play Free From Amber before Statue to get higher attack minions. Pick the fattest minion when possible. Nozdormu, Gruul, Soggoth the Slitherer are all good options if the other big dragon cards, lich king, y'sharaj are not available. Noz rushes their decision, Gruul forces immediate removal, and Soggoth they cannot target at all. 
  • Don't worry too much about Dark Anduin's removal, just play around Mind Control Tech and refill the board with Eternal Servitude and Statues if they full clear.
  • Do not forget whether they have coin or not. Keep track of that or write it down. If they managed to stall into late game you will need to figure out whether you have one more turn or not before they OTK you.
  • Don't go out of your way to make them overdraw. The chances of them throwing out a critical combo card is relatively low, and if you fail and they pick up a critical card early it's gg. Use Shadow Word: Horror or Shadow Word: Pain on a single Acolyte of Pain is totally valid.
  • Silence your own 1/1 from Barnes if it's The Lich King, Ysera, Obsidian Statue is a valid strategy if you have it available early game. This way they cannot deny your resurrection pool with Potion of Madness and you can force out an early removal card from them.
  • If you got unlucky and don't have minions to play at turn 8, go dark Anduin early so you can use your spell cards for extra damage. The regular healing hero power does very little against Highlander's 0 mana Raza counterpart. Instead, maximize your mana usage through minions and push aggressively for face damage.

More coming soon.